What to Do When They Say “Not Right Now”

If you’re getting feedback along the lines of “not interested”,
“not right now”, “call back in a month”, then what the prospect
is telling you is “this isn’t a priority right now”.

But my point is this. If what you’re offering ISN’T a priority
to your prospects, then it means that something else IS. There
are other issues that are keeping them awake at night. There are
other problems that they are preoccupied with. And if you can
uncover what those points of pain are, and link your solution to
addressing those points of pain, there is a very good chance
that they will soon be a paying client.

Now you might say that those other problems have nothing to do
with my product or service. But the fact is, if you want to form
a relationship with this individual or group of individuals,
“what IS keeping them up at night” has EVERYTHING to do with you.

So how does this work in practice? Let’s say you’re a sales
trainer, and you want to develop a relationship with sales
directors who outsource their training. You’ve tried cold
calling and direct mail to introduce your service, but you feel
like you’re meeting a blank wall. When you’re approaching sales
directors as “just another training provider” no one’s
interested.

So step back and ask yourself, well what are they pre-occupied
with? Maybe they’re frustrated with the fact that 80% of
business comes from 20% of the sales force? Maybe they’ve already
invested in training, and felt like they didn’t get a
significant return on their investment? Maybe they are so bogged
down with fire-fighting, that they can’t even lift their heads
to THINK about training?

You need to spend some time exploring and uncovering these
points of pain. How? Listen, first and foremost. I started the
Client Magnets newsletter because I kept hearing trainers,
coaches and therapists tell me: “I don’t have enough clients,
and I’m not confident in my ability to get new clients.” The
other thing you can do is just “put yourself in their shoes”,
start to see the world through their eyes and get an
understanding of what their hopes and fears are.

So back to our sales trainer example, as you uncover the points
of pain for your target prospects, you will start to see common
themes emerge. There is a good chance that you know how to solve
these problems. Maybe you could put together a simple report
that provides some solutions for these issues. Or you could
organise a half-day seminar or a teleconference call where you
provide the answers personally.

Take off your blinkers and start thinking creatively about what
you can do to link your solution to a current pressing problem
that your target market is experiencing. Small businesses and
solo operators have a tremendous advantage here, because they
are nimble and have the ability to quickly repackage and
reposition their offering.

Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter
for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary
therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients
calling you instead of you calling them, then sign up for her
free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

December 1st, 2008